Painting depicting the "Attack of the Dead Men", August 6, 1915.

Painting depicting the "Attack of the Dead Men", August 6, 1915.

Today 108 years ago, on August 6, 1915, the "Attack of the Dead Men" took place between Russian and German forces at the Osowiec fortress on the Eastern Front.

The Osowiec fortress was a modern Russian-built fort in Eastern Poland, positioned in a marshland on the one spot easily crossable. This meant whoever wanted to get past had to capture the fortress first...check comments for more details

Osowiec protected the important railway hub connecting the cities of Belostok, Lyck and Königsberg, meaning the Russians made sure to protect it as best as possible when the First World War broke out...read full story

Painting depicting the "Attack of the Dead Men", August 6, 1915.

Painting depicting the "Attack of the Dead Men", August 6, 1915.

Today 108 years ago, on August 6, 1915, the "Attack of the Dead Men" took place between Russian and German forces at the Osowiec fortress on the Eastern Front.

The Osowiec fortress was a modern Russian-built fort in Eastern Poland, positioned in a marshland on the one spot easily crossable. This meant whoever wanted to get past had to capture the fortress first.

Osowiec protected the important railway hub connecting the cities of Belostok, Lyck and Königsberg, meaning the Russians made sure to protect it as best as possible when the First World War broke out.

The Russians had already repulsed two pushes from the Germans in September 1914 and February - March 1915. In July 1915, the Germans launched a third assault. The Russians, being heavily outnumbered, fiercely resisted like the previous times, and the Germans soon realized something else was needed - gas.

On the morning of August 6, 1915, the Germans released chlorine gas on the Russian defenders inside of the Osowiec fortress. Thinking all of the Russian garrison was dead, 7,000 Germans began advancing towards the fortress. They were mistaken. 

One of the most epic events of the war, and some can argue world history, took place as gassed but alive Russian soldiers of the 13th Company, 226th Zemlyansk Regiment, covered in blood from artillery and coughing blood from the gas, incredibly counter-attacked the advancing Germans from Osowiec, supported by Russian artillery from the fortress.

English sources state there were 60 - 100 Russian soldiers, while a Russian source says 300 - 400 soldiers.

The German soldiers, thinking all the Russians were dead, were so shocked by the almost zombie-like Russian soldiers that they retreated; fleeing the scene.

The counter-attack of assumed dead Russians gave the event the name "Attack of the Dead Men". To which extent this story is true and accurate is still in debate, with the event perhaps being exaggerated in newer times.